Vurway Alor—A Beautiful Narrative Poem

Our own Neytiri has written a beautiful narrative poem leNa’vi inspired by some of the words in the 30 Sept. blog post. It’s about a pa’li and an ilu named Lilu and Luli respectively. I think you’ll really like the pamuvan it contains.

Neytiri’s English translation is in the spoiler after the poem. Suggestion: Don’t look at the English until you’re sure you’ve gotten as much as you can out of the Na’vi.

For the record, here are three new compound words, all of which you’d be able to figure out on your own:

vurway (n., VUR.way) ‘story poem, narrative poem’

pamuvan (n., PAM.u.van) ‘sound play’

Note: Pamuvan and lì’uvan ‘wordplay, pun’ aren’t quite the same. Although there’s some overlap, puns are witty and humorous, whereas pamuvan refers to simply playing with and enjoying the sounds of language, as poets often do.

paytxew (n., pay.TXEW) ‘shoreline, water’s edge’

Fìvurwayt ivinan nì’o’ nì’aw!

 

Trro aetrìp pa’lil alu Lilu ilut alu Luli rolun,
Ma hiyìka pa’li a slele nì’aw sìk, Luliru Lilu leym,
San ngari kifkeyt, rutxe, livawk ko; ngeyä vurit oeru piveng!
Ha Luli ftumfa pay tsapa’liru ’oleyng,
San txampayä olo’ä lu oe ilu, nìwin sì nìmal oe slele,
Krra lini larmu oe uvan soli, kip wura ayweopx apxay,
Oeri kifkey lu fayoang sì neni, pay, aysum, sì tatx,
Nìrangal tsirvun wivìntxu ngaru, trro fya’ot riyevun.

Nìtrrtrr fäprrfen fìmeylan fìtsap,
Pa’li sì ilu,
Nì’ul’ul mefo fìtsap slu lor,
Pa’li sì ilu,

Kaymo a pa’li sì ilu ultxa si fte tìreyti livawk,
Ma hiyìka ilu a tul sìn reym sìk, Liluru Luli leym,
San ngari kifkeyt, rutxe, livawk ko; peng oeru vurit ngey!
Ha Lilul lok paytxewit, fte Luliru pivlltxe,
San txayoä olo’ä lu oe pa’li, nìler sì nìnrra tul oe,
Krra lini larmu oe uvan soli, sìn ayramtsyìp lezeswa,
Oeri kifkey lu ayutral sì ’akra, ukxo, unyor, sì sang,
Nìrangal tsirvun wivìntxu ngaru, trro fya’ot riyevun,

Nìtrrtrr fäprrfen fìmeylan fìtsap,
Pa’li sì ilu,
Nì’ul’ul mefo fìtsap slu yawne,
Pa’li sì ilu,

Txono pa’li paytxewne pähem nìfya’o akeftxo,
Ma fyolea pa’li a slele nìlor sìk, Luliru Lilu leym,
San oeru ngaru fmawn längu; aylì’u mì te’lan lu skxe;

Latem zìsìkrr, oeyä olo’ herum, zene oe nìteng.
Ma lora ilu a tìran sìn awkx sìk, Liluru Luli ’oleyng,
San oeri vitra set tsngerawvìk, nga lom li lu oer,
Oel new f(u)ta ngahu tul oe, f(u)ta nga hu oe slele,
Oel kawkrr ke tsaye’a ngeyä kifkeyt; kawkrr ngal pumti oey!

Tsakrr nìflrr, äo sanhì, Luliru Lilu poltxe,
San tam tam, ma yawntu, ngari txe’lan mawey,
Spaw oe, tsafya’ot roleiun.

 

You can hear Neytiri reading her poem here:

 

English translation

One auspicious day, the pa’li Lilu found the ilu Luli,
“Strange pa’li who only swims,” to Luli Lilu called,
“About your world, please, tell me more; tell me your story!”
So, from out of the water, Luli answered the pa’li,
“Of a clan of the ocean, I am an ilu, quickly and surely I swim,
When I was a foal I played, amongst the many chilly waves,
My world is fish and sand, water, shells, and bubbles,
If only I could show it to you, some day, may I find a way.”

Day after day these friends visited,
The pa’li and the ilu,
More and more they found each other beautiful,
The pa’li and the ilu,

One evening, when the pa’li and ilu met to ponder life,
“Strange ilu who runs upon dry land,” to Lilu Luli called,
“About your world, please, tell me more; tell me your story!”
So Lilu approached the water’s edge, and to Luli said,
“Of a clan of the plains, I am a pa’li, steadily and proudly I run,
When I was a foal I played, upon the grassy hills,
My world is trees and soil, dry, fragrant, and warm,
If only I could show it to you, some day, may I find a way.”

Day after day these friends visited,
The pa’li and the ilu,
More and more they fell in love,
The pa’li and the ilu,

One night, the pa’li, forlorn, arrived at the shore,
“Perfect pa’li who swims so beautifully,” to Luli Lilu called,
“I have for you some news; the words are like stones in my heart;
The season is changing, my clan is leaving, and I must leave too.”
“Beautiful ilu who walks upon the cliffs,” to Lilu Luli replied,
“My soul now weeps, I miss you already,
I wanted to run with you, you to swim with me,
I shall never see your world, and never will you see mine!”

Then, gently, beneath the stars, to Luli Lilu spoke,
“There there, my love, may your heart be calm,
I believe I’ve found that way.”

[collapse]

Edit 9 Oct.: Stress corrected for paytxew: PAY.txew –> pay.TXEW
Close quote added in the English translation, after “and I must leave too.”
Added voice recording of Neytiri reading her poem.
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18 Responses to Vurway Alor—A Beautiful Narrative Poem

  1. Blue Elf says:

    Taksyokx! Nìngay tsavurway lor lu nìtxan – mipa tsulfätu aywayä a plltxe srer fìtsenge!

    Really wonderful and that wordplay with their names 🙂
    It wasn’t hard to understand, although I had to think more about some words to decipher them and, my shame, once I even had to check translation.

  2. SGM (Plumps) says:

    Oooooh, tsaw leiu lor nìngay nì’aw!

    Fam lu fyole ulte krra oe fmìlmi pivlltxe tsapamuvanti mokrifa nìwok, poltxe oe nìnu krro krro. Oeri loleiu ftxì na ’ìheyu 🙂 slä ’o’ nìtxan! Sunu oer fwa yune futa Neytiril peng ayoer kosmana tsavurwayti alor mokrifa. Rutxeeeee! 😉

  3. Vawmataw says:

    Seysonìltsan! Nga pamrel si nìltsan nìtxan ma Neytiri.

    Sunu oer fìpamuvan:
    > nga lom li lu oer
    Lì’ukingìl nga’ Liluti.

  4. Neytiri says:

    Tewti! Tstunwi nìtxan lu aynga nang! 💙

    • Eìrä says:

      Kaltxì! Oeru syaw fko Eìrä!
      Neytiri, you are the karyu of Melìsa?
      I am a friend with Melìsa and Teyvit, i know them! 😉
      It would be awesome to know you!
      Ta: Eìrä!

  5. Kxirya te Weytana Nllteya'ite alu Andi says:

    Txantsan nìtxan ma Neytiri nawm.
    Sunu oer nìtxan mokri ngeyä.
    Stameiawm ayoel fìvurit ngeyä tengkrr snanumultxa ayoeyä
    Plumpshu sì sutehu alahe a toitsye.

    Fìvuritìri ngar oe irayo si nìtxan.

    Eywa ayngar lrrtok seiyi frakrr fratsengsì, ma eylan.

  6. Tstewlor says:

    Wonderful!!!

  7. Eìrä says:

    Kaltxì ma frapo! Oel ayngati kameie nìwotx! Oeru syaw Eìrä!
    I am a big fan of Avatar movie and i love to learn Na’vi Language and many things! I also have friends on LN Community! Fell Free To Correct My Na’vi language writing!

  8. Teylu Awtsì says:

    Kaltxì, ma karyu Pawl Frommer. Oeru syaw Teylu. So, I have a suggestion for making Na’vi language more widely spread and easy/free for people to learn. I recommend that you should put Na’vi language into Duolingo app. That would be awesome.

  9. Eìrä says:

    Kaltxì nìmun! Ma karyu Pawl Frommer a new guy has joined on LN Community, hi’s name is Teylu25 and he have a Duolingo App where he is learning Japanesse language (i think) and he want’s that the Na’vi language to be added to his app! I don’t know his Duolingo App link! He tryed to send a message to you, but he couldn’t!
    Ta: Eìrä 😀

    • Teyvit te Koletxi Rosarey'itan says:

      Kaltxì ma Eìrä ngaru lu fpom srak 🙂

      • Eìrä says:

        Oeru lu fpom! 😀
        Ngaru tut, ma Teyvit?

        • Oeru lu fpom nìteng ma Eìrä
          sunu oer pamrel sivi fitseng
          nìteng
          ulte pe’uri nga nolome
          numtsengmì fitrr

          im fine too Eìrä its
          great to writte hier too
          what did you learn at school today?

          • Eìrä says:

            Sorry for late reply, ma Teyvit! Oeru lu fpom! 😉 I hope you are good too!
            Today i learned about: Romanian language (had a paper test), France language, English (had a paper test) and i had a free hour (Psichology)!
            I hope you will can see my new video…even If i’m still trying to post it and i can’t!

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